The view from here
I live on the West side of Mount Ogden, about three blocks west from where the homes end and the wilderness begins. From my backyard, I have a pretty good view of the part of Mt. Ogden that's not developed to the top where the TV towers are. It's a breathtaking view if you like mountains and I do, so it works out well.
A few minutes ago, I ran to the store which is down 36th Street from my house. I say down because it's downhill. Mt. Ogden slopes from the rough, jagged peaks to a downhill slope. From the bottom of 36th Street, where the store I went to is located, the view is pretty different. From that perspective, you see just how BIG Mount Ogden really is. It only looks about half that size from my back yard.
Perspective adds a lot to, or in some cases takes away from what we see. It's in the perspective of how we look at things that we make our decisions on what we see. From my backyard, it's easy to say Mount Ogden really isn't that big, but from where the valley floor actually is, Mount Ogden is quite impressive.
It just depends on the view.
In the blog I posted earlier I talked about seeing a hill. It's a metaphor for conquering challenges. From my perspective, the hill looked a bit steep today; so steep in fact I'm not sure I could see what was on the other side. As I drove home today from the store, I thought about this. If I love Jesus and trust Him, I don't necessarily need to see what's on the other side of the hill to know what's there. It's a promise of Heaven, of eternal life, and a place where all my needs are met. It may be that there is another hill to climb that I can't see, but someplace past the horizon is heaven and every step, every trial, every joy is just another part of the road home. It's a walk I don't walk alone. Christ is there to lead the way. He walks with me, one day at a time, step by step, lighting the pathway with His light. I don't have to guess about which direction to take; there is only one. Forward. I also don't have to guess about the directions to heaven. God left the directions in His holy word, the Bible.
Along the way, there are challenges but most of those are self-imposed. I look at my life in reflection these days and if I'd followed the directions to get to heaven, I wouldn't have gone through half of what I have. It's been self-imposed. By God's grace and through Christ's redemption, I've undergone some things that from my perspective, are just "corrections". I had to explain this to a friend the other day. Bless him, he thought I'd gone through more than I deserved and I pointed out to him that I'd gone through exactly what I deserved; I'm thankful to God for the opportunity to learn from the trials. More importantly, by His wonderful grace and love it's nowhere near as bad as it could have been for the things I've done. My friend is at the base of the mountain. I'm at the middle of the hill.
As I pulled into my driveway, I looked past the house toward Mount Ogden and smiled. From the driveway, that mountain isn't so big. Neither is the hill I'm on. When it starts to look insurmountable, I just have to remember God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11 to all of us. I wouldn't be on the path I am if He didn't want me there and it's a walk I'm gladly taking. You see, it's all about perspective.
The view from here is pretty good.
A few minutes ago, I ran to the store which is down 36th Street from my house. I say down because it's downhill. Mt. Ogden slopes from the rough, jagged peaks to a downhill slope. From the bottom of 36th Street, where the store I went to is located, the view is pretty different. From that perspective, you see just how BIG Mount Ogden really is. It only looks about half that size from my back yard.
Perspective adds a lot to, or in some cases takes away from what we see. It's in the perspective of how we look at things that we make our decisions on what we see. From my backyard, it's easy to say Mount Ogden really isn't that big, but from where the valley floor actually is, Mount Ogden is quite impressive.
It just depends on the view.
In the blog I posted earlier I talked about seeing a hill. It's a metaphor for conquering challenges. From my perspective, the hill looked a bit steep today; so steep in fact I'm not sure I could see what was on the other side. As I drove home today from the store, I thought about this. If I love Jesus and trust Him, I don't necessarily need to see what's on the other side of the hill to know what's there. It's a promise of Heaven, of eternal life, and a place where all my needs are met. It may be that there is another hill to climb that I can't see, but someplace past the horizon is heaven and every step, every trial, every joy is just another part of the road home. It's a walk I don't walk alone. Christ is there to lead the way. He walks with me, one day at a time, step by step, lighting the pathway with His light. I don't have to guess about which direction to take; there is only one. Forward. I also don't have to guess about the directions to heaven. God left the directions in His holy word, the Bible.
Along the way, there are challenges but most of those are self-imposed. I look at my life in reflection these days and if I'd followed the directions to get to heaven, I wouldn't have gone through half of what I have. It's been self-imposed. By God's grace and through Christ's redemption, I've undergone some things that from my perspective, are just "corrections". I had to explain this to a friend the other day. Bless him, he thought I'd gone through more than I deserved and I pointed out to him that I'd gone through exactly what I deserved; I'm thankful to God for the opportunity to learn from the trials. More importantly, by His wonderful grace and love it's nowhere near as bad as it could have been for the things I've done. My friend is at the base of the mountain. I'm at the middle of the hill.
As I pulled into my driveway, I looked past the house toward Mount Ogden and smiled. From the driveway, that mountain isn't so big. Neither is the hill I'm on. When it starts to look insurmountable, I just have to remember God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11 to all of us. I wouldn't be on the path I am if He didn't want me there and it's a walk I'm gladly taking. You see, it's all about perspective.
The view from here is pretty good.
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